


Scepter and Sword

by NotWeird



Series: Myths of Oz [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Maiden Religion (sort of?), Maidens, More mistakes than any man woman and child, Mythology - Freeform, Other, Pre-Canon, Relic of Destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 16:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotWeird/pseuds/NotWeird
Summary: The King of Vale conquers Mistral and bends the Emperor's neck in one fell swoop- the King of Vale lives a dream he no longer wants (blood and bodies separate him from Ozma and that boy's ambitions of godhood).





	Scepter and Sword

**Author's Note:**

> Companion piece to Maiden Killer.

Ozma the Great and Powerful was no more. In his place stood the King of Vale (Warrior-King, the Last King, the Conqueror) with a sword of fire that could cut down in army in an instant. At his side a Maiden who called down storms at his command. At his side a thousand years of regret and bitter self-loathing. He had been so willing to guide his kingdom with peace, with scepter and not sword, until his hand was forced by the Mantle-Mistral alliance. 

(Hilarious that his ambition as a youth would become his newest reality, so many years and so many bodies removed from then. Hilarious the blood on his hands for a dream he no longer dreamt.) 

His forces marched to one of the largest soldiers encampments left of the Mistrali army. The Emperor would not bow his head an inch even if he had nothing personal left, but he would bow if his people begged him- he loved them so dearly, was bound by honor to keep them safe. (The King only wished he could befriended the man before the war, before all this bitter, bloody business.) 

The land rolled out before him, mountains and plains and rivers, untouched by war except for the villages devoid of adults, villages filled with children and elders. He turned his eyes carefully away and marched. 

They made camp half a day’s walk from the rumored location of the hold-outs. The sun set and rose and they rose with it. They had lunch, what little they could stomach, and walked. 

A woman, a single woman dressed in lavishly embroidered but simple robes, greeted them. 

“Turn back, King,” she said. “There is nothing for you here.” 

“You harbor soldiers,” he said. 

“No, I do not,” she glared at him. “Turn back.” 

His troops murmured among themselves, unsure, then a wave of arrows shadowed the sun and all doubt was removed. They attacked, him with a wave of fire, and she-

This unarmed woman, hair plaited impractically atop her pretty head, deflected the flames. The Maiden at his side hurled lightning and he knew sense no more.

**-[-]-**

Things were eerily quiet- after. The soldier barracks burned, the stone scorched and shattered, and the woman- Osiria- lay dead. His travel cloaked burned with it all, heat in a frozen world, and a girl wept.

The King left Mistral for Vytal, the weight of his sins a heavy burden along his spine, but the weight of two Maidens at his side even heavier.

**Author's Note:**

> Is it vague and confusing? Welcome to reading mythology 101. 
> 
> For those wondering what the heck is going on: Ozpin/The King of Vale [what is his name???] hears about a massive gathering of troops and believes it to be the reserve forces of the Mistrali army. He thinks if he takes them out the Emperor of Mistral will surrender- and he's right. The war ends in Vytal a year after this. 
> 
> Unfortunately for him, that wasn't a soldier encampment (oops). It was a Maiden Temple for wounded and recovering soldiers + anyone who's been hurt by the war. The temple is full of priestesses/nuns who don't exactly put up a fight when he rolls up with a flaming sword. (The soldiers on the other hand, well- Oz feels justified but terrible about killing them since they attacked first.) The woman who greeted him was Osiria, Temple Mother and Spring Maiden (though the secret of the Temple Mother being the Spring Maiden has been pretty much lost at this point). 
> 
> Oz leaves with Osiria's Handmaiden- who's become the new Temple Mother/Spring Maiden- because he can't just leave power like that in the hands of the enemy you know. (My boy regrets this for years and this comes up in Lumi's story so keep an eye out ;) )


End file.
